You don't need to sell do you?

I seem to be getting a strong message from mailings, networking groups both on and offline , new books, and just about everywhere; now is the time to get your marketing right. So far so good. But the rationale seems to be that marketing is the answer; so long as you have your marketing (website, tweets, facebook, linked-in, mailshots, service offering, emails)  right, then they alone will be sufficient for success. No need to “cold call”, no need to get better at salesmanship, perhaps no real need for human interaction at all; blast with emails on a regular basis and the orders come in.

Marketing training is being offered as the “easy” (easy because it is something you can do for a daily 90 minutes without a prospective client in evidence) option and, worryingly, small business seems to be seduced.

So concerned by this trend was I that I put it to a Linked-in forum of Sales VPs worldwide that perhaps we can stop selling, just rely on marketing.  This response  sums up the tone of the discussion

“That's because the business schools teach marketing, and not selling. It's also because the writers about business have never been sellers. And we only hear about the few who win big through marketing alone, never about the thousands who die quietly; that's what the Internet bust was all about 10 years ago. 

Follow that advice at one's own peril!”

More specifically the following response explains just how Social Media is now part of the Marketing Mix

“In direct marketing before the Internet and social media, we used to debate the difference between responses and inquiries and leads … and whether a transaction equaled, or even implied, a relationship.

Now, of course, we have clicks and followers and followees and likes and Tweets and viral video and inbound marketing and such … even in BtoB. So the marketing debate evolves: is a click a lead? Is a white paper download that was not provoked by a specific marketing action automatically an opportunity? Does the nurturing process defined and managed in a marketing automation system signify engagement? To all these questions, I answer, “not yet.”

At some point(s), genuine engagement has to include real-time human-to-human interaction. All the linking and friending may be very valuable in advancing toward engagement. However, such communication does not yet mean genuine engagement … that takes one person experiencing another live, either in-person or at least in dialogue over the phone”

Do not mistake the message; Marketing is essential. Without it, active and/or passive there is no beginning of a conversation and good marketing is invaluable if it is properly co-ordinated with sales.  These two summed it up very neatly

"most businesses do need both marketing and traditional sales" "With effective marketing research and initiative planning, followed by effective lead nurturing activities, the sales team can execute the initiative quickly, seeing better results faster. This is like the sales team getting the football on, say, the 15 or 20 yard line going in, rather than at the 30 or 35 on the other end of the field.

I'm a HUGE proponent of marketing/sales alignment... When done correctly, sales cycles shorten, and customers begin to realize business benefit from acquired solutions more quickly as well. Everyone wins."

So the conclusion. Usually, at some point, you will have to speak to somebody either on the phone or face to face.  Marketing gets you to First Base as it were, quicker, more prepared. Then it’s all up to you.

And what are you going to say to them at that point? How do you differentiate yourself right that second? How do you increase your chances of success? You have nothing left to hide behind.

Don’t suppose you want to find out?

If you do, contact me for a conversation. I genuinely look forward to speaking to you on the phone or face to face. 07866 518848